Refrigerating apparatus



Jan. 15, 1935.

G. w. MASON 1,987,783

BEFRIGERATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 11, 1932 Fae.

0' ll IM& .20 3 1 /-s/ 52am. z/

g0 aa INVENTOR. qsonqs )1 Mason.

ATTORNEY.

Jan. 15, 1935. G, w MASON 1,987,783

REFRIGERAT ING APPARATUS Filed May 11, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F" .-7. .30 ,e9 #7 a 71- A 03 I O 1 a) 9 7 Jogd 1 I I/ I "-72 J6 g? 76 a? a? u 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

- Patented Jan. 15. 1935 UNITED STATES REFRIGERATING nrrma'rcs George W. Mason, Detroit, Micln, assignor to Kelvlnator Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Mic Application May 11, 1932, Serial No. 610,631 1 Claim. (cue-11c) ..10 frigerating system within a food storage compartment of a cabinet and to suspend the refrigerant condensing element of said system from the underside of the lowermost wall of the food compartment and to arrange for the ready re- .1- -moval of said system as a unitary structure from the cabinet without the necessity of moving the system above its operating position upon so removing it from said cabinet.

Further objects and advantages of the present .20- invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accomv.panying drawings, wherein a preferred form of p the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

' 25 Fig. 1 is a vertical view of a refrigerating apparatus embodying features of my invention, shown partly in elevation and partly broken away; Fig. 2 is a view in cross section taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; 30 Fig. 3 is a vertical view in cross section taken along-line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in cross section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 and on a slightly enlarged scale;

85 Fig. 5 is a front view in elevation of a portion of the refrigerating apparatus shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, shown removed from the cabinet;

Fig. 6 is a side view on a reduced scale of the refrigerating apparatus shown in Fig. 5;

40 Fig. '7 is a perspective view of a cabinet panel shown removed from the cabinet;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of a modified form of refrigerating apparatus embodying features of my invention; and

45 9 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the refrigerating apparatus shown in Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 to 4, the numeral 20 designates in general partment 21 and preferably is provided with a coating of vitreous enamel such as porcelain to provide a neat appearing compartment and one which may be easily cleaned. The walls are also provided with an outer casing 30. 4 5

The front wall'26 of the cabinet preferably includes a wooden frame structure including upright posts 33 and 34, a top cross member 35 and a bottom cross member 36. An upright post 40 or door mullion provides two openings 41 and 42 leading into the food compartment 21. These openings are closed by doors 43 and 44, respectively. The edges of the door openings 41 and 42 are provided with removable finishing strips 50 which cover and secure the terminating edges of the inner lining member 29 and the outer casing 30 and may be secured to the walls by screws or other suitable means.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the horizontally disposed bottom wall 28 is provided withan opening 51 in alignment with the door opening 42 and extends substantially to the rear wall of the cabinet.- .As shown, the width of the opening 51 is preferably less than the opening 42 in the front wall. The opening 51 is 5 closed by a removable closure member 52.

Mounted upon the closure member 52 and within the food storage compartment is a cooling element 53 and depending from said removable closure member 52 is a refrigerant condensing element 54. The closure member 52 preferably extends through the cut away portion in the bottom cross member flush with the front wall to seal the cabinet, and may be of any suitable insulating material such as wood.

The condensing element comprises in general a motor-compressor unit enclosed in a hermetically sealed casing 55, and a condenser 56. In the usual manner gaseous refrigerant is withdrawn from the cooling element or evaporator through conduit 58 by the compressor which compresses it and delivers the compressed gas through conduit 57 to the condenser 56 wherein it is liquefied. The liquid refrigerant is then delivered to a liquid refrigerant receiver 61 whence it passes to the evaporator through conduit 59 under I the control of an expansion valve 60.

As shown, the condensing mechanism is preferably carried by the underside of the bottom wall of compartment 21 and in a relation such that y it may be exposed to the free circulation of air.. To accomplish this I provide a plate 63 suspended from the closure member 52 by straps 64 or other suitable means on which the parts of the condensing element may be supported. 65

Preferably the condenser is air cooled and for this purpose I have provided a fan driven by a motor 66. This fan also circulates the air about the motor-compressor unit to remove the heat generated thereby and as shown is preferably located so as to expel the air at the rear of the cabinet.

The cooling element illustrated is preferably of the so-called dry expansion type and is surrounded by a tank-like member 67 adapted to contain a holdover solution such as brine. The member 67 extends substantially between the front and rear walls and the top and bottom walls of the cabinet and is provided with an air cooling zone 68 on the exterior thereof. This type of cooling unit may be provided with a plurality of openings in the front surrounded by sleeves 69 in the member 67 adapted to receive trays 70 in which substances such as water may be frozen and may also be provided as shown with a frost chest 71 in which may be stored ice cubes and frozen foods. A drip pan is also provided below the evaporator as indicated at 72 to catch the water when the system is defrosted.

In order to provide for supporting the closure member and also to support it so that it may be flush with the bottom wall to form a removable section thereof, the bottom wall is formed about the opening 61 with ofiset portions providing slideways 75 on which the closure member 52 is mounted. Gaskets 76 of any suitable material such as rubber may be provided between the removable closure member and the bottom wall to insure a complete seal between the food storage compartment and the exterior of the cabinet.

To prevent air from entering the food storage compartment when the door 43 'is opened and also to conceal the cooling element, I provide in this instance a closure panel 77 behind the opening 47 which may be detachably secured to the cooling element by screws or other suitable means. This closure panel extends upwardly from the closure member 52 to a point adjacent the top of the door opening 44 and is of a width such that it may be removable therethrough. Out turned flanges 78 are provided about the sides, top and bottom of the closure panel and extend into the door opening 44 adjacent the sides thereof, the edges of which may be covered and secured by the finishing strips 50.

In order to provide a neat appearing apparatus and also to provide a guard or shield for the condensing element, I have extended the outer casing downwardly as at 79 between the legs 22 to a point substantially midway between the bottom wall of the food compartment and the lowermost portions of the legs 22. As shown in Fig. 1 the condensing element is not only concealed from view but the cabinet walls extending downwardly also provide a guard for the operating mechanism to prevent accidental contact therewith when cleaning therebelow. It will also be noted that this arrangement permits the condensing element to be substantially exposed to the atmosphere on the exterior of the cabinet.

In the front wall of the cabinet the shield or guard portion 79 is arranged so that it may be readily removed. This shield or removable panel, which is best shown in Fig. 7, extends between the front legs 22 of the cabinet and is provided with inturned flanges 81 about the sides and top for securing it in place. The top flange is notched at to clear the upright door mullion 40 and may b1.- secured to the top of the bottom cross member 36 by screws and covered by the finishing strips 50. The side flanges may be secured to similar inturned flanges formed on the legs 22 by screws or other suitable means. By reason of this removable panel, ready access may be had to the condensing eleme' t so that in case minor repairs or replaceme of the parts thereof is necessary, such repairs may be conveniently made without removing the entire system from the cabinet.

In cases where it is desirable to remove the entire system from the cabinet. the finishing strips 50 and the removable shield 79 are first removed,- after which the cooling element, the condensing element and the closure member 77 may he slid forwardly through the front of the cabinet as a unit. It will also be seen that the closure member 77 may be removed either separately. or wit-h the cooling element, through the door opening 41.

In Figs. 9 and 10 of the drawings is shown a modified form of refrigerating apparatus in which the refrigerating system is likewise removable as a unit through the front of the cabinet. In this instance 82 indicates in general a cabinet provided with a food storage compartment within the top portion thereof and a machinery compartment 34 at the bottom of the cabinet. The compartments are separated by an insulating wall 85 which is the bottom wall of the food storage compartment. The food storage compartment is provided with doors 88 and 89 for closing the openings leading to the food compartment. An opening 90 is provided in the front of the cabinet to give access to the machinery compartment. A door 91 preferably hinged at the bottom is provided for closing the opening 90.

A refrigerating system is associated with the cabinet in a manner similar to that previously described in connection with Figs. 1 to 5 and includes a cooling element 92 carried by a removable section 93 of the wall 85 within the compartment 83 and a condensing element 95 secured to and depending from the underside of the removable wall section 93 within the machinery compartment 84. The rear wall of the cabinet is preferably provided with louvered openings 95 through which air may be circulated to ventilate the machinery compartment. If desired the machinery compartment may be open at the rear. The parts and operation of the refrigerating system may be the same as those previously described in connection with Figs. 1 to 4.

In this instance a removable panel is provided for covering the front edge of the wall 98 and may be detachably secured thereto by any suitable means and covered by finishing strips such as those previously described. To remove this refrigerating system from the cabinet, the machinery compartment door is opened. the food compartment door opened, the panel 100 removed and then the entire system as' a unit may he slid forwardly through the front of the cabinet. It will be seen that the condensing mechanism occupies compartively little of the space within the machinery compartment so that if desired ibc condensing mechanism may be sealed from the rest of the compartment by an upright wall. in which compartment such articles as non-perishable foods may be stored.

Although only a preferred form of the invention has been illustrated, and that form described in art that various modifications may be made mamas bination, a cabinet having ai'ood compartment provided with an opening in the front wall thereof anda horizontally disposed'bottom wall, including a removable section, movable closure -means for said opening, a cooling element within said compartment and removable through saidopening, a condensing element depending from said removable section 0! the bottom wall and in close proximity thereto, an outer stationary supporting casing for the apparatus, including integral legs and integral portions extending downwardly from the bottom wall of the food compartment to a point substantially midway between said bottom wall and the lowermost portions of said legs and below said condensing element to provide walls of a machine compartment for shielding said condensing element without obstructing the free passage of air about said element, and a downwardly extending removable portion in the front of the cabinet to cooperate with said integral portions to shield the condensingelement and to seal the forward edge of said horizontal wall including said movable section whereby said cooling element, condensing element and removable section may be horizontally removable as a unitary structure from said cabinet,- including said food and machine compartments.

GEORGE W. MASON. 

